


House Call

by Tbowen71



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Akira is dumb too, Alternate Universe - Future, Everyone is super successful, Friends to Lovers, Game Spoilers, M/M, Medical Inaccuracies, Reunions, Ryuji is dumb but we love him anyway, Slow Build, Very Slight Spoilers, graphic depictions of injury
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-10-23 09:33:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10716774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tbowen71/pseuds/Tbowen71
Summary: Finally a doctor and the first thing he did was move back to Yongen. The second thing he did was run into Ryuji, who he hadn't seen in two and a half years.They fall in love... or something.





	1. Homecoming

**Author's Note:**

> First and foremost I apologize if this is crap, I haven't written prose in literally 5 years it's only been scripts and essays for me. I could only stare at it for so long before giving up and calling the first chapter good. 
> 
> I can't promise that I'll update very quickly it's been a while and writing is weird, but this story has been in my head since I started the Death social link in the game so if you have any idea how long this game is (e.i. OVER 100 hours at this point for me) than you may understand my need to actually write it out.
> 
> I don't know how many chapters this is going to be but I'm thinking around 40k so I guess we'll see.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira comes home.

 

 

There was a strange sense if déjà-vu for Akira as he walked down the familiar back streets of Yongen suitcase in tow, after so many years. Memories flooded in, haggling with the old man that owned the secondhand shop, buying snacks at the grocery store when friends inevitably showed up to hang out or hitting baseballs when the stress got to be too much. The feeling of home and comfort reached a peak when he turned the last corner and stopped short as he saw Leblanc’s Cafe same as always. Despite how short a time Akira actually spent living in the attic of Leblanc’s in the scheme of things, without fail every time he came back to visit he felt the same overwhelming feeling of home and safety. Still it was a little strange, after everything that had happened all those years ago, his exoneration and the decision that he would move back in with his parents, that place had never been home again. Not after he’d been rehabilitated, reborn with new goals, convictions and supports that Akira honestly never really believed he’d deserved before.

 “Hurry up or are we just going to stand outside all day?” Morgana chirped from inside his bag.

 “Right.” Startled, Akira started moving towards the door, he’d honestly forgotten that Morgana was even with him, he’d been so lost in the memories of this place. When he stood in front of the door, the open sign was turn to face him like a greeting; he couldn’t help but grin as he opened the door.

 The undeniable feeling of home rushed over him as he inhaled the familiar scent of coffee and curry and it finally struck him, he was home and he was here to stay, at least for the next year. He was once again startled out of his reverie, this time by a squeal of “You’re home!” and an impact as a blur of red hair jumped into his arms. What sounded like a muffled “Welcome home.” came from Futaba, whose face was pressed into his neck.

 Akira squeezed her just as tightly; his reply of “I’m home” was also muffled as he pressed his face into her hair. This girl, young woman now, who he had helped save, had quickly become something of a little sister to him and he’d missed her dearly in his years away. She looked so different now, her long hair was now barely past her chin, gone were the neon colours and ironic quotes. He suddenly fiercely missed the shy kid that could hardly leave the house without him, this was better, he told himself, this had to be better.

 “Well look what the cat dragged in.” The voice made Akira’s head snap up, he couldn’t stop the grin from spreading across his face when he heard a snort coming from his bag.

 “Mona!” Futaba shouted, right in his ear, which made him wince a bit. She unlatched herself from him, grabbed Morgana and proceeded to squeeze the life out of him as well. Akira turned back to Sojiro, the man who had become both a father and mentor to him in the time that he’d lived here.

 “I’m home.” This time Akira’s almost breathless with the joy of being able to say it.

Sojiro’s smile softened and he ruffled Akira’s hair as if he were a kid.

 “Welcome home.”

 Akira didn’t think he could take much more of all this, he was sure he was going to inspire from sheer happiness. Wouldn’t that just make a headline ‘Recently graduated Doctor, died of happiness before his first day in the field.’

 “You must be tired, why don’t you put your bag away upstairs and I’ll make you a cup of coffee and something to eat.” The warmth in Sojiro’s voice is something that Akira didn’t ever want to take for granted and he cherished it whenever he heard it because there weren’t many people Sojiro spoke to like that and Akira was so grateful that he was one of them.

 So he did as he was told and preceded to the familiar staircase that led to where he’d be living for the duration of his medical residency. He expected it to be like walking into the past, much like most of today had been since arriving in Yongen, but so far it’s only place that didn’t feel immediately familiar. Sure the room was the same and his old TV, retro game console and couch were all still there but the desk and selves were all clear of stuff even his plant was gone, to be fair it had probably died. The most surprising thing was the bed, gone was his old single bed and in its’ place was a queen with what looked like new sheets and pillows. Before he really even thought about it he dropped his suitcase and launched himself onto the bed. It was just as soft as he expected, Akira had never really been in a bed this big so he took advantage of his solitude to roll around in it without the comments Morgana would surely make if he saw him.

 Settling onto his back and kicking off his shoes Akira thought about unpacking his suitcase but the rest of his stuff wouldn’t arrive until the next day so it would just make sense to leave it all until then, once the thought was settled Akira promptly fell asleep. He’d briefly wondered if he was going to wake up in a cell with a long nosed man sitting at a desk just on the other side of the bars, but the thought is easily brushed aside by the pull of sleep.

 

* * *

 

“Akira a big group just walked in could you come down and give me a hand?”

 Sojiro’s voice jolts Akira out of sleep, he grabs for his phone to check the time and was a little shocked that he’d slept nearly two hours, there were also several messages and a missed call that he made note to respond as soon as he was done helping Sojiro. He searches for his glasses and is surprised to find them placed neatly on the shelf by his bed, someone—Futaba maybe, must have come up to check on him and took off his glasses so he didn’t break them in his sleep. Getting out of bed took more effort than expected, he really must have been really tired, it was probably all the joy, that much emotion was exhausting.

 Once his shoes were back on he headed for the stairs, he briefly wondered where Morgana was, with Futaba possibly, since Sojiro didn’t like having him downstairs when customers were in the cafe. His musings were quickly answered when he got downstairs.

 A smirk slowly grew on his face, a much more acceptable reaction because if he didn’t smirk he just might cry. Hanging from the ceiling of the cafe was a banner that read ‘Welcome Home Doctor Joker’ along with the Phantom Thieves logo with a stethoscope. Standing just below the glorious banner were his strange and wonderful friends. There was a chorus of ‘welcome homes’ as he took the time to look at his friends faces as if trying to memorize them because it had been well over a year since he’d seen most of them.

 In what appears to becoming a worrying habit Akira was once again jostled out of his thoughts with a body colliding with his, this time it’s Ann who has thankfully refrained from jumping on to him but was still hugging him very tightly. Ann, one of his first friends he’d made in Tokyo, looks completely different but exactly the same, her hair is flat, sleek and stylist along with her dangerous looking shoes and red leather jacket.

 “We really didn’t plan this as a surprise party, but when we got here you’d just fallen asleep so we killed some time putting this together” Ann stepped back and was gesturing at the banner, assuming that it was the ‘this’ is, she was referring to.

 “It took you two hours to make a banner?” Akira couldn’t help but joke. “I can see how the wording might be tough”

 “No you jerk” Ann protests, but Akira saw Sojiro’s smirk and he knew he couldn’t have been completely off the mark. “It only took so long because Yusuke needed the logo to be perfect!” At the mention of his name Akira turned to look at Yusuke, who looked unrepentant and entirely the same.

 “It was for Akira, of course it needed to be perfect, he wouldn’t have expected any less of me” It never ceased to amaze Akira how regardless of what Yusuke was doing he looked like a model even in vaguely paint splattered t-shirt and jeans, and gesturing wildly to emphasize his point.

 “Oh please don’t mind the banner, we know it was silly but we were just so excited to see you and it kept us occupied until Boss let us wake you up.” Haru spoke sweetly, but she looked vaguely apologetic and Akira immediately felt like a douche.

 “Don’t misunderstand, I love the banner, in fact I plan on keeping it after today.” He really did, he might even hang it in his room. “I can’t believe you guys went to the trouble, whose idea was it anyway?” Haru’s smile lit up her face and much like the others she too had grown into herself. Whereas she’d always been gentle and kind, she now has a grace and confidence she didn’t before. She wore he hair in the same fluffy bob it was in high school, it was more stylish than Akira could ever hope his ‘fluffy’ hair could be, as well as an unapologetically trendy skirt suit that somehow made Haru look more elegant than usual.

 “That would be Mako-chan of course!” Haru answered brightly and Akira had to bite his lip to keep from laughing in surprise.

 “Of course.” Akira replied with perhaps a hint of a laugh, eyes focusing on Makoto he noticed a blush spreading across her nose, it contrasted greatly with her severely professional look, she still had bangs but her hair was long enough that it was pulled into a tight bun and she wore an immaculately cut pantsuit that distinctly reminded Akira of her sister.

 “Why don’t you kids go sit down? I’m sure you’re all starving by now.” Sojiro interrupted any chance for Akira to comment further on the banner or tease Makoto for which he was sure she was grateful.

 Moving to sit in one of the booths Akira found himself between Ann and Yusuke, and facing Haru and Makoto, while Futaba sat at the bar with Morgana who was already stuffing his face with what looked to be a plate full of salmon. There wasn’t a noticeable absence and Akira tried to ignore the pang he felt when he did slip and notice that there was still space for one more. The slip must be more obvious than he thought because Ann squeezes his thigh reassuringly.

 “We did try to invite him but none of us have heard from him in months.” There was no malice in her words, where maybe once there would have been, just resigned sadness, because Ryuji left and no one knew why. Akira coughed clearing the unwanted emotions from his voice.

 “It’s fine, really.” He cleared his throat, “What I really want to know is how all of you managed to get the same night off, an alignment of the stars? Because from what I understand I’m in a room full of extremely successful and busy people.” Sure Akira was a doctor but his friends were some one the most successful people he knew, Ann was an international model come movie star, Yusuke was a widely known artist, Haru the CEO of a multinational corporation, Makoto the most successful detective in the city and while Akira didn’t know what Futaba was doing at the moment he was sure it’s something equal parts impressive and terrifying. Makoto then proceeded to wave off his question.

 “It was nothing really, we knew you were coming in today so we simply made arrangements and if arrangements could not be made we informed Futaba and she took care of it.” The statement is said with such casual nonchalance that Akira was almost certain that Futaba was probably working with Makoto in at least some capacity. Akira looked at her with such admiration that she must have felt it from across the room because she looked up from the phone she’s been on since he came downstairs, blushes and looks vaguely guilty but straightens up again.

 “Please it was nothing.” She snorted, because to her it probably was nothing. “Doc you gotta stop avoiding the subject of why you’re here by asking us why we’re here.” Futaba sits back looking satisfied and Ann turns to him with a scowl.

 “That’s right Mr. Doctor! Last we heard from you was two months ago and it was a text that said ‘Officially a Doctor’ and then you fell off the face of the earth, only to show up again freeloading in the Boss’ attic!” Ann wasn’t really irritated Akira could tell but she had been concerned about him, which made him a terrible friend. He sighs and pushed up his glasses, ready to face the music.

 “First of all, I resent the implication that I’m freeloading, Sojiro offered when I told him I was planning on moving back” Akira will not be made to feel bad about deciding to move back to Leblanc’s. He’s rewarded by Sojiro’s chuckles from behind the counter.

 “It’s true, I wasn’t going to give up the chance to have him and Morgana underfoot again, it’s sure to be interesting.” Sojiro smiled at him indulgently because that was definitely the case for the last he lived in the attic.

 “And secondly, in my defense medical school is hard.” He was probably whining. “I’m pretty sure I sent you guys that text immediately after my last exam and then slept for like a week. Plus I didn’t even know where I was doing my residency let alone that it was in Yongen until a couple of weeks ago” Akira was getting stressed just thinking about how stressful the last couple of months had been, figuring out where he was going and then making the arrangements so that he could move back to Tokyo. Ann hmm’d at him.

 “Alright, I believe that, I mean how did you even manage to become a doctor? I’m pretty sure you did worse than me on the exams the first term we had together.” The comment isn’t made meanly, Akira’s pretty Ann is actually impressed but that doesn’t stop the sting of the underlying implication.

 “Sorry to interrupt but how did you manage to get your residency in Tokyo? From what I understand it can be quite competitive.” Makoto cut in before the conversation can devolve to childish bickering, Akira was sure that’s where it had been heading. He hadn’t been surprised that Makoto became one of the top interrogators in the city she was scary. Yet somehow her comment did not do wonders for his self-esteem either.

 “I was wondering about that as well, I work with several of the larger hospitals in the city and I would’ve been more than happy to introduce you to the deans.” Akira realized he might be more sensitive about this than he’d thought because Haru, who was forever kind was definitely not doubting his ability to get and position. He took a deep breath and resolved to take all his friends comments and questions in the spirit that they were intended which was curiosity more than anything.

 “That’s very kind of you Haru and your support means a lot to me, I know I’ve been closed mouth about my residency and it was mostly because I wanted it so much and Doctor Takemi only just agreed to have me.” He hoped his friends weren’t upset with him because he was realizing that it he hadn’t been a very good friend lately.

 “Doctor Takemi?” It was Morgana that spoke up, because Akira was a shitty person and literally hasn’t told anyone where he was working.

 “You all remember the doctor I was helping out in high school?” Akira didn’t doubt that they did, she was definitely memorable.

 “The one that made you take foul concoctions for her medical research?” The look of distaste on Yusukes face was hilarious; it looked like he’d just drank one of Takemi’s ‘experiments’. Akira couldn’t help but smile.

 “The very same,” he confirmed, “She’s the one that really inspired me to become a doctor. All the trials we did were so that she could cure someone so that they could keep smiling. I knew that after everything with the Phantom Thieves that I wanted to keep helping people and I thought that if I worked hard and stuck with it I could aspire to be half as noble and kind as Takemi then maybe I could spend me life helping the weak” Akira wasn’t sure what he was expecting as a response but he was sure silence wasn’t it. That is until Futaba opened her mouth.

 “Huh, I always thought it was to prove to you parents you weren’t dumb, which is stupid but they seem to have some very strange ideas about you. It makes way more sense that it’s something so unselfish, it’s very you Akira.” And well she wasn’t entirely wrong and he couldn’t help the smile.

 “I mean yeah I wanted to prove that I could, but I mostly just wanted to help people. So yeah I’m going to be training as GP at Doctor Takemi’s clinic for the next year at least.” Akira shrugs and scratches his cheek, it was weird to be the sole focus of his friends attentions after so many years. Sojiro who’d been listening from the kitchen lets out an impressed whistle.

 “I knew you were trying to convince her but I have no idea how you managed it, she’s one tough customer.” Sojiro came out from behind the bar with plates of curry in hand; the smell alone was starting to make Akira’s mouth water. He was thankfully the first to receive a plate and was to hungry to even consider waiting for the others. Between bites he finally answered.

 “I just agreed to help with another clinical trial” He was too engrossed with his food to notice the look that passed over everyone’s faces.

 “You what!?” Seems to come from several directions at once but Akira was too involved with the religious experience that was eating Sojiro’s curry to take much notice of their outrage.

 “It’ll probably be like last time, I drink weird stuff, she takes my blood, it’s not big deal.” He spoke between mouthfuls of food, he probably looked like some starved crazy person but he honestly couldn’t give a less of a shit at the moment.

 “You sure have strange taste kid.”

 

That was probably the understatement of the century.

 


	2. The Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira spends a lot of time thinking about Ryuji, he also spends a lot of time telling himself to stop thinking of Ryuji.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for baring with me while I figure out wtf I'm doing.  
> While Vulgar Boy is in this chapter, he's also not really in it at all. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this second chapter of my babbling.

Trying to sleep that night was an exercise in futility, Morgana was already fast asleep on the other pillow but Akira wasn’t even close. He knew logically his problem was that he wasn’t tired because he’d had a rather long nap earlier in the evening but he couldn’t help the niggling thought in the back of his head that there was more to it. He’d been worried the moving back to Yongen-Jaya would be a bad idea, that he’d be constantly reminded of the past and long for it. Thankfully he needn’t have worried because tonight had proven that regardless of how much time passes he and his friends can just pick up where they left off, the past could be left in the past. 

Well all but one.

Today had been great, coming back to Tokyo, seeing his friends, eating Sojiro’s curry but throughout it all if felt like something had been missing. He wasn’t an idiot he knew he missed Ryuji, which didn’t make any sense because Ryuji had left over two and a half years ago and stayed gone. Unfortunately that hadn’t stopped Akira from missing him, from noticing all the places he should be. Akira shifted and threw his arm over his eyes, thinking about the last time he saw Ryuji. He replayed the scene in his head so often trying to figure out what he could have said differently that the memory was engrained.

 Akira had been in his last year of pre-med and Ryuji who had gone to the same university as him was in his last year of kinesiology. They’d been at their favourite pub, all dark wood, dim lights and soft leather; it was the prefect place for a quiet conversation. They’d found the bar by accident in their second year, wondering around looking for a place to get a beer after getting their ass kicked during midterms. It had become something of their hideout in university so Akira wasn’t surprised when Ryuji suggested going there one Friday night in late October. Ryuji had waved off the bartenders offer of another round, he’d been quiet most of the week, it really wasn’t like him so Akira had noticed immediately that there was something up and he’d been waiting for Ryuji to bring it up. Ryuji, who’d been looking into his drink for most of the evening, wasn’t talking and Akira was tired of waiting for Ryuji to bring up whatever bothering him, so he bit the bullet.

 “You know you can tell me anything right?” It was non-aggressive and hopefully it got the ball rolling on whatever Ryuji wanted to get off his chest.

 “Of course man, and there _is_ something I wanna tell you.” There was a smile on Ryuji’s face but it hadn’t reached his eyes. If Ryuji was masking his feelings, it was probably bad and he hadn’t wanted to worry Akira, unfortunately it had the opposite effect. “I’ve been thinking lately that this school thing isn’t really for me.” Akira honestly had no idea where the notion came from and he was immediately wary of where the conversation might be going.

 “What do you mean? You’re almost done your undergrad, you love your program I know you do.” Ryuji did, Akira knew because he was genuinely interested in his projects and seldom complained about studying for exams anymore.

 “Naw man, it’s cool and all but I think I’ll just start working you know, save up some dough.” Ryuji’s tone tried to convey casualness but it rang so false that Akira was starting to get pissed that Ryuji would even try to pull this shit on him. He took a deep breath because the last thing he needed was for Ryuji to go on the defensive.

 “Ryuji is everything alright? Did something happen?” There was a sharp intake of breath and Akira knew that something must have happened for Ryuji to be acting so out of character. It was so obvious and it hurt that his best friend was going through a tough time and was unwilling to let him share the burden.

 “Yeah everything’s fine, I just needed to tell you I’m not going to be around anymore.” Akira froze. Ryuji, who’d been diligently pilling off the label of his beer, grabbed the bottle and was squeezing it so tight that his knuckles turned white.

 “What do you mean you aren’t going to be around anymore?” Akira couldn’t believe the words that were leaving his mouth; he didn’t even recognize his own voice. He honestly didn’t want to hear the answer because that would be Ryuji was leaving and that was unacceptable.

 “I mean I’m leaving tomorrow, I already submitted the paperwork to drop out of the program.” Despite everything he said that night Akira knew that Ryuji hadn’t honestly wanted to leave, the look on his face betrayed his words. The look on Ryuji face continued to haunt Akira even nearly three years later because it was a look of pain and desperation but there was also an edge of determination. With that look Akira knew there was no chance that he could talk him out of it and it killed him.

 Ryuji stood, dropped too much money on the bar and left, but not before saying “Go become a doctor Akira, I’ll see you around.” With a final shrug and a pained smile Akira never saw him again.

 The way Ryuji left him made Akira want to scream, it made him want to cry and the worst part was that Akira let him leave. His biggest regret was not chasing after Ryuji because he didn’t just lose his best friend that night but he was finally ready to admit that he’d lost the one person he wanted to spend his life with, not that Ryuji knew that at the time. Akira became a doctor, so where the fuck was Ryuji?

 Akira finally gave up on sleep; he threw off the blanket and went to put on his workout clothes. While he’d initially taken up running because it reminded him of Ryuji, he’d been quick to realize that there was little else that would keep his mind blank than pushing his body to it’s limit.

 He just needed to exhaust himself so he could sleep and tomorrow he’d forget about Ryuji and move forward with his life.

 That seemed super likely.

* * *

 

He was sore when he woke the next morning, it was bordering on painful getting out of bed. Akira decided that running for an hour straight without properly stretching had been a terrible idea and he knew better. It had worked though; when Akira finally did get home he’d collapsed face first onto his bed and slept until morning, or midday rather.

 When Akira eventually stumbled his way down the stairs what he found was a mostly empty cafe. Fubata was there, which Akira wasn’t sure if that was surprising or not, she was sitting in the booth nearest the door, laptop in front of her and steaming cup of coffee at her elbow. She was wearing a slouchy hat and oversized ugly sweater, she looked like such a hipster that Akira actually had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. Her eyes finally tore themselves from her laptop screen when he collapsed in one of the seats by the bar, face stuffed into his arms.

 “Somebody looks like crap this afternoon” The comment made Akira groan and turned to glare in Futaba’s direction. “Morgana mentioned that you’d gone out last night, but I can’t imagine what you’d be doing in order to look like that today.” Futaba’s tone was teasing and it hinted that she’d thought that he’d gone out to do something sordid in the middle of the night, Akira honestly preferred that assumption to the real reason he was chased from his bed.

 “Morgana should mind his own business.” It was unfortunate that Akira had decided to move back to a place that more than just he understood the cat, because as nosy as Morgana was, he was also a huge gossip and now Mona had people he could share his gossip with. Gossip about Akira mostly.

 Akira was briefly distracted from his unkind thoughts towards Mona when Sojiro appeared like a vision, placed an omelet and a cup of coffee in front of him.

 “I don’t think I’ve loved anyone as much as I love you right now.” His tone was bland but his feelings were pure, Sojiro just smirked at him.

 “Well after you finish eating you take your stuff up to you room, I left it by the door for you, and I could also use a hand around the cafe today.” Akira takes back every kind thought he had about Sojiro. Nonetheless it was his own damn fault he felt like shit so he pasted a smile on his face, nodded and started eating.

 When he was done he made his way over to the boxes he’d shipped, they were mostly full of textbooks and extra clothes. Bracing himself for the pain he knew was coming after straining his muscles the night before he hefted the first box into his arms. He was not wrong about the pain. It took several trips but he finally managed to haul all his belonging up to the attic. He took a look around the room and decided that he could wait another day before unpacking. Procrastination after all was the spice of life.

 Once he’d made his way back down to the cafe, Sojiro immediately ordered him to start on the dishes. Akira was acutely aware of how much this scenario reminded him of high school. He spent the remainder of the afternoon taking orders, making coffee and doing dishes, you wouldn’t think that he was a licensed doctor and his first day as a doctor was in two days. When Sojiro finally declared that they were done for the day Akira couldn’t be more grateful. Without thought of dinner or the boxes scattered about his room he face planted onto his bed and fell asleep.

 Despite spending the day avoiding thoughts of him, Akira dreamed of Ryuji.

 

* * *

 

Akira was lying in the grass under a tree and breathing hard, Ryuji wasn’t much better off beside him. They’d decided to go for a run through the forest, it seemed like a fitting way to end Ryuji’s visit. Ryuji had come to Akira’s hometown for a week during the summer vacation of their final year of high school. The sun was shinning and nothing could’ve ruined Akira’s mood, he never wanted it to end. Ryuji, unaware of his basking broke the silence.

 “So I’ve been thinking about what you said” Akira looked over at him, curious because he’d said a lot of things over the course of the week. “About becoming a doctor and studying pre-med at a university outside of Tokyo.” Ryuji was blushing, which was an odd response to anything that was said, while it could’ve been the exertion Akira didn’t think so.

 “What about it?” Akira turned onto his stomach and propped his chin onto his hand in order to get a better view of Ryuji’s face.

 “Well, you know that I don’t really got any idea about what I wanna do with my life yet, so I figure anywhere you are is a good place to start.” Ryuji was definitely blushing and Akira couldn’t stifle the hope growing in the pit of him stomach. Akira needed him to say it outright.

 “What are you saying Ryuji?”

 “I’m saying that I’m going to try to get into the same university as you man!” Ryuji had a hand over his eyes as if he were scared of Akira’s reaction. He couldn’t hold the smile back any longer and broke out in a huge grin, he shook Ryuji’s shoulder.

“That’s amazing!” Ryuji looked over at him and broke out in a matching grin.

“You think so? I’m not saying I’m gunna get in because you’re crazy smart but for you I’ll try.” Ryuji propped himself on one of his elbows, and ran his other hand through his hair.

“For me huh?” Akira teased but he couldn’t put into words how pleased he felt that he wouldn’t be going to university by himself, let alone that Ryuji wanted to ensure that they went together.

“Shaddup, it’ll take more than some fancy school to get rid of me.” Then Ryuji laughed and Akira joined him because at the time he believed Ryuji.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't decided this fic is trash and your looking forward to the next chapter, you'll be excited to learn that it'll include quality time with Yusuke and possibly Akira's first day of work... Wow does that ever sound boring written like that.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed basically a chapter entirely made up of internal monologue!


	3. Beds and Boxes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unpacking is a thing that Akira needs to do, Yusuke is there to add some artistic flare.

When Akira opened his eyes the next morning it was to the sight of Morgana standing on his chest and staring at his face. The noise he made could probably be categorized as a scream, but certainly more manly. The cat just hopped off the bed like he hadn’t just been the near cause of a cardiac incident.

 “Good you’re awake.” Akira thought that after all the years Morgana would’ve grown out of his condescending attitude and he would’ve been wrong. “Chief made breakfast and you really shouldn’t leave him waiting, he’s going to think you’ve gotten lazy.” With that final quib Mona made his way out of the attic and down the stairs.

 Akira checked his phone to see what hellish time Morgana had decided to wake him, it was barely past 8:30 and it was Sunday, Mona was an asshole. However it was probably a good thing he was up because apparently Yusuke was also a morning person, he’d sent several texts earlier that morning saying he’d be coming by the shop a little after nine and would be pleased to spend some time with Akira if he was available. He wondered if Yusuke had gotten more formal over the years and then shrugged it off as yet another one of the man’s many quirks. Akira proceeded to stumble over to his duffle bag and pull out a clean pair of jeans and t-shirt, he really needed to make unpacking a priority.

 Twenty minutes later found him downstairs with wet hair and slightly more alert as he made his way to the place at the bar that Sojiro had just put down a fresh cup of coffee. Akira honestly didn’t know how he had survived the last five years without living directly above a cafe. He looked around for Morgana but he was once again nowhere in sight, just what did that cat get up to during the day?

 “Your friend Yusuke should be coming by soon.” Sojiro called over his shoulder as he made his way back into the kitchen, to finish the day’s curry probably. Akira leaned against he counter and sipped at his coffee.

 “How’d you know he’d be coming by, he only texted me a little while ago.” Yusuke was a strange one but he didn’t think he had the sort of relationship with Sojiro that he’d text him when he was coming by the cafe, it would be weird but Akira didn’t think Yusuke was totally above it.

 “He comes by every Sunday around this time when he’s in Tokyo, says it’s for the coffee but I think he’s probably a little lonely. When he comes he just sits and looks at that painting for hours some days.” Akira didn’t know that about Yusuke but he can’t say he’s too surprised, Yusuke had sort of gone off and done his own thing after he graduated high school, his interests were so different from the rest of the groups that it was possible they had let him drift. Now that he was back in Tokyo he was starting to notice how much he’d let his relationships fall to the wayside while he was absorbed in his studies. Feeling guilty he decided, now that he was done school he would make his relationships with his friends a priority again. Logically he knew he wasn’t the only one that had spent the last couple of years focusing on other things, but he could only change his behaviour, he’d worry about the others only if it became a problem.

 Akira was still sipping his coffee when the bell chimed and Yusuke walked into the cafe. Akira really needed to get less attractive friends, it was unfair that Yusuke could walk around in the most ridiculous shade of salmon and still both pull it off and look good doing it.

 “Hey Yusuke,” Akira nudged the seat next to him, encouraging Yusuke to sit.

 “Good morning Akira, it’s good to see you.” Yusuke smiled warmly and sat down, he turned to look at Sojiro. “Boss could I bother you for a cup of your marvellous coffee?” Sojiro had the same look on his face as he did when they were in high school and Yusuke would wax poetic about his coffee, it was soft and pleased but it quickly passed a Sojiro set to work make a fresh cup.

 “Coming right up, say kid that cat of yours is running around with Futaba today so don’t worry about him being underfoot.” Sojiro mentioned as he poured hot water over the coffee grinds, once the coffee had filtered into a cup he placed in front of Yusuke. While Yusuke was having a moment with his cup of coffee Akira leaned back in a his chair.

 “I was wondering where he was hiding, he hasn’t really been around since we got back.” It wasn’t that Akira missed him per say, he’d be unpacking today and the last thing he needed was Morgana’s commentary throughout the whole experience but it had been just him a Morgana for so long that it was strange when he wasn’t around. Plus Akira got the distinct feeling that he was scheming and that was never a good sign.

 “That’s a shame I was hoping to see him as well today, but I suppose he’s gotten bored living with just you.” And ouch, Yusuke was ruthless when he wanted to be.

 “Thanks, I’m really feeling the love.”

 “I had not intended it as an insult, but Morgana has only been able to talk to you for the last few years, I simply meant that he might enjoy being able to talk to other people again, you aren’t exactly the most talkative person.” That was true enough, when Ryuji was still around he and Morgana could argue about the most ridiculous things but they both seemed to enjoy themselves while it was happening so Akira hadn’t minded and since then Morgana really was the one to steer most of their conversations. It was only fair that he got bored with only Akira for company.

 “I suppose that’s true,” Akira actively changed the subject. “What’s your plan today Yusuke?”

 “I was hoping on spending the day with you if you don’t mind the company, but if you are otherwise engaged I won’t mind spending the day in with Sayuri.” Yusuke indicated the painting that was still hung on the wall with his eyes. Akira had been pleased to see it was still at Leblanc’s despite the fact that Yusuke could easily have hung it in his own house now.

“I don’t mind you keeping me company, but I don’t know how good of company I’ll be since I was planning on spending today unpacking. All my stuff is still in boxes.” Akira scratched at his cheek, embarrassed, He’d meant to get it done, but somehow he’s managed to put it off until the last second. Yusuke, strangely enough, lit up like a kid on Christmas.

 “Please allow me to help, I have been wanting to try my hand at interior design and this would be the perfect opportunity!” Akira sincerely doubted there would be great deal of interior design opportunities with the stuff he’d actually brought with him but the thought seemed to make Yusuke happy so he shrugged and nodded his ascent. Yusuke beamed at him, so pleased that Akira blushed a little at the unabashed joy being directed at him. Yusuke quickly drained his cup and got up as if they were going to start right at that moment and Akira supposed that now was as good a time as any to get it out of the way.

 Akira finishes his coffee, takes his and Yusuke’s cups to sink where Sojiro had started on the morning’s dishes and puts them with the rest.

 “Let me know if you need anything, I can’t imagine you didn’t forget something.” Sojiro joked and Akira smiled at Sojiro’s way of being both caring and insulting in the same breath.

 He and Yusuke make their way up to his room and it was a lot. Somehow his sleep idled mind hadn’t thought there was as much stuff as there was, it was a lot of cardboard. There was at least ten boxes plus his suitcase that he also hadn’t unpacked yet. At least half of the boxes were books and things he’d picked up over the years, the rest was his wardrobe.

 “This is quite impressive,” was all Yusuke had the say on the matter. Akira sighed and ran his hand through his still damp hair.

 “Yeah, it really is. Why don’t you start on the boxes marked books and things and I’ll take care of my clothes.” Akira trusted Yusuke with his life, but he wasn’t sure he’d ever feel comfortable with the man touching his underwear. “You can put the stuff where ever you’d like so long as you put the books on the shelves, no book statues please.” Akira wasn’t sure that Yusuke would even think to try and build something with his textbooks but he wouldn’t put it past the other man so he figured he might as well nip it in the bud if the thought had crossed his mind.

 “Of course, I shall make your room as beautiful as possible!” Yusuke tore open the first box marked books and started putting them away in what looked like in order of colour. Akira just smiled and opened another box, it was his disassembled clothes rack and as many hangers as he could fit. He knew he could put his winter coat, boots and things in the closet downstairs but he owned a lot of dress shirts and he tried to avoid having to iron as much as possible.

 He’d unpacked most of his clothes and was in the middle of reassembling the rack when Yusuke made a noise of surprise from across the room; he looked over to see what Yusuke was reacting to. He was looking down into a box, but it was the picture frame in his hand that gave away what had surprised him. Akira had packed a few photos, most of them where of their whole group, their day at the beach, the trip to Hawaii, the road trip back to his hometown and memorably a photo of the time they’d decided it would be a good idea to go on a camping trip but none of those were the photo that Yusuke was holding. He used to have a ton of photos of just him and Ryuji but he’d left them all in a box at his parents house, all but one. It seemed like fate that the one photo he’d brought of him and Ryuji would be from the day he’d dreamed about just the night before. It was a selfie of all things, Ryuji was holding the phone and grinning into the camera while Akira was smiling but he was looking at Ryuji instead. He’d actually complained and had them take another when he saw Akira hadn’t been looking into the camera, but Akira had always liked the first one more.

 “You have such a beautiful expression on your face in this photo” Akira was so surprised he’d nearly dropped the rack he’d been gripping. “It has been my dream to be able to capture such an expression on canvas.” Akira couldn’t face whatever look was probably on Yusuke’s face to he turned his attention back to the rack to put the last pieces together. Yusuke seemed to understand that Akira did not want to talk about the photo and continued to take the rest of the photos out of the box.

 When Akira was finished putting the rack back together he decided that he might as well iron his clothes before he hung them up. He looked over to Yusuke and he was standing starring at the wall above his couch through his hands as if he was looking at the composition of the wall.

 “I’m just going to see if I can borrow an iron and board from Sojiro.” Yusuke barely acknowledged that he’d spoke, so he just shook his head at a typical absentminded Yusuke and left the room.

 Sojiro was serving a plate of curry to a middle aged woman when he got downstairs, he looked over and so did the patron.

 “So-chan you didn’t say that your son was home!” Sojiro flushed a light pink and rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed, Akira wasn’t sure if it was because of the nickname or because she called Akira his son.

 “Uh yeah he just graduated med school, he’ll be working at the clinic with Dr Takemi.” Akira looked at Sojiro with surprise because it wasn’t often that he shared that kind of information with his customers.

 “Ohh, your son a doctor! You must be so proud!” Sojiro smiled and looked Akira in the eye.

 “Yes, very proud.” It was Akira’s turn to flush and avert his eyes, but he couldn’t help the smile. Sojiro in turn just chuckled, “what can I do for you, did you guys get hungry?”

 Akira coughed and tried to regain his composure. “Not that, I was actually wondering if I could borrow your iron and an ironing board, I didn’t think to bring one.”

 “So you did forget something, it’s no problem, there isn’t on here but I’ve got one in the closet across from Futaba’s room, she’s home so you shouldn’t have a problem getting in.” Akira just nodded in thanks and made his way to the door, it jiggled as it was pushed open and swung closed.

 It was a beautiful September day, the breeze was warm as if to cling to summer’s last days. Akira took a deep breath in, all he smelled was the dryer sheets from the laundry mat across the way but it still felt good to be outside, during the day for the first time in days.

 As he made his way to the Sakura residence, he greeted the secondhand goods shopkeeper, the grocer and several of the neighbourhood inhabitants that had recognized him. When he got to the house, the gate was unlocked and the front door was open just enough to fit someone vaguely cat sized, so Morgana was probably also inside. He’d let himself in, the entryway was brightly lit and looked the same as it had the last time he’d been to the house. That had been months ago when he came by for a night to surprise Futaba for her birthday, they’d talked most of the night eating junk food all the while and Akira had fallen asleep on the floor of her room. He smiled at the memory of being shaken awake by Sojiro, sure he was going to yell at him for sleeping in his daughters room only for him to say he needed to get up or he would miss his train back to school, he had missed his train and Sojiro drove him all the way back to Kyoto. He saw that Futaba’s door was open and he overheard her and Morgana talking while he slipped off his shoes.

 “—Found out where he was working?”

 “Yeah, I know for sure he’s working in Shinjuku at one of the bars”

 “A bar, what does he know about bartending?”

 “It’s a host bar, so I he might be a host.”

 “There’s no way that idiot is a host, he’s got zero charm”

 “That’s pretty harsh Mona”

 “Well—" Morgana was cut off from what he was going to say when Akira knocked on the door frame. Morgana froze and Fubata squeaked in surprise, Akira wondered who they were talking about, it had to be someone Akira knew as well since Morgana seemed to know them well enough to insult whoever it was.

 “Sorry, I didn’t mean startle you. Who are you guys talking about?” Akira leaned against the doorframe, looking from Morgana’s uncomfortable face to Futaba’s vaguely guilty one.

 “Yuuki” was Futuba’s immediate response. Akira was confused he didn’t think he knew any Yuukis.

 “Who?” Interestingly enough, both he and Morgana asked it at the same time, Akira raised a brow at Futaba, who was obviously caught in a lie. She just rolled her eyes and stared at Morgana like he was stupid.

 “Mi _shi_ ma” The way she emphasized the name made it sound like she was call them both idiots, which point.

 “Oh right! That’s his first name?” Akira thought they were still probably lying to him but there was a much more pressing question he needed to ask now.

 “Since when are you on first name basis with Mishima? I’m not even on first name basis with him.” The blush that spread across Futaba’s face caused an interesting tangle of emotion in Akira. Part of him wanted to tease Futaba for the crush she seemed to have on someone she’d once called an NPC, another part wanted to hunt Mashima down and make him disappear because he knew how he thought about women.

 “That’s none of your business, why are you even here Doctor Eavesdropper?” He was about the respond that it certainly was his business, when his phone buzzed it was from Yusuke.

  _‘I require a hammer and nails_ ’ was all it said and before Akira had the chance to ask why in the world he would need those, another text came in. ‘ _Don’t bother Boss has provided them for me_ ’ Well that was as good an indication that he’d been gone too long.

 “I just came by to borrow Sojiro’s iron, but it seems I’ve left Yusuke alone too long and he's been inspired.” Akira turned around to where the hall closet was, grabbing the iron from the shelf and the board that was hung on the back of the door. By the soft thump he heard Morgana had leapt off shelf he’s be perched on and was standing in Fubata’s doorway.

 “Yusuke’s around?” The excitement in his voice made Akira think back to the conversation he and Yusuke had, had that morning, maybe Morgana was starved for conversation and he’d felt guilty that he hadn’t noticed.

 “Yeah, he’s helping me unpack, did you guys want to come say hi? Futaba had already turned back to her computer typing away, he doubted she would come.

 “I’m busy, I don’t need to see that Inari,” Futaba’s grumble was half-hearted “He’s at Leblanc’s all the time, I’ll see him later.” Akira just nodded readjusted his hold on the ironing board and looked down at Morgana.

 “I’ll come, Futaba you’ll keep me updated on _Mishima_ right?” The way Morgana had put emphasis on Mashima’s name was meaningful, but Akira was more concerned about Yusuke was doing to his room then about whatever secret they were keeping.

“You bet Mona,” was called after them as they made their way out of the house. It took some maneuvering for Akira to shut the door behind them but Morgana was already off, heading towards the cafe. He made his way there carefully, trying to avoid hitting anyone in the narrow backstreets, when he got to the cafe Morgana was sitting by the door waiting to be let in.

“What took you so long?” Akira just rolled his eyes at the cat, moving the iron to his other hand so he could open the door, as soon as he did Morgana darted past him and straight up the stairs almost knocking into Sojiro on his way.

“That cat is a menace.” Akira couldn’t help but agree, he shook his head and made his way to the back of the cafe without hitting any of the chairs or patrons, so there was that. “Remember to put the tools back when you’re done with them.” Akira nodded, took a fortifying breath and made his way up the stairs.

He wasn’t sure what he was expecting when he got to the attic but it wasn’t Yusuke wearing his stethoscope and folding his underwear while Morgana chatters from his usual spot by the stairs. So much for not having Yusuke touching his underwear, at least it was clean. He had been gone less than an hour and he barely recognized his room, the windows were all open the sun was shining into his room, all the boxes were broken down in a neat pile, his shelves were filled with books organized by colour, his clothing rack was also full and organized by colour, the desk was organized with his reference books, notebooks, pens and laptop. The sill that only ever held his piggybank was full of the many little things that had been given to him over the years, he’d been planning on putting the photos he'd brought there, but Yusuke had mounted them onto the wall.

Akira propped the ironing board against a shelf and put the iron down on the table, walking over to where the photos had been displayed. There were seven frames in total; the photo of the camping trip, the beach, the road trip, Hawaii were up along with a photo of him, Futaba, Sojiro and Morgana sitting together in the cafe, a photo of all of them in kimonos and yukatas at a festival and the photo of him and Ryuji. They were all there; two, three and two, put up to be made to look like a flower, all the group pictures were surrounding the singular selfie. It made him want to cry because Ryuji had been part of every single one of those memories; even the photo of just his family, Ryuji had been the one to take the photo. There was actually another version of the photo with Ryuji in it. That was the day Ryuji had introduced his mom to Sojiro before they’d left for university, she'd taken that photo.

Akira turned away, looking at Yusuke because he refused to be affected by photos of someone who wasn’t around anymore. The only clutter in the room was the piles of clothes that Yusuke was folding, waiting to be put away.

“You didn’t need to do all this” It was all Akira could say because Yusuke was kind but he didn’t know how much those photos hurt him, he didn’t know because Akira hadn’t told him, he hadn’t told anyone how much Ryuji leaving had hurt him.

“It was no problem, I finished putting the books away and I thought I’d help you organize your wardrobe as well.” Yusuke misunderstood but it didn’t matter because Yusuke was barely paying attention anyway, he’d finished folding and was putting everything away, Akira was going to end up spending some time figuring out where everything was.

“Why don’t you go sit and hang out with Morgana, I’ll finish that.” Akira took the jeans out of Yusuke hands and pushed him towards the bed. He checked all the drawers to see where everything was before continuing to put away his clothes.

“Very well,” Yusuke complied and went to sit on his bed, after shooting him an odd look Morgana joined Yusuke on the bed. “Say Morgana, have you gotten bigger? Your voice also seems to have changed too since the last time I was in Kyoto.” Akira smiled as he listened to the conversation.

“You think so? That guy says I haven’t changed but Fubata said I definitely have!”

“Perhaps he doesn’t think so because he’s with you everyday and doesn’t notice the gradual changes but I do believe you’ve gotten bigger.” Morgana had mostly given up on the idea that he would turn into a human so instead he’d become determined that his voice to drop and he’d be able to sound manlier, it hadn’t happened yet but Morgana still had hope.

“I guess that’s true — hey what are you doing with that? Ah that’s cold!” Akira turned around to see what the fuss was about couldn’t help the laugh that slipped out because Yusuke had put on the stethoscope and was listening to Morgana’s heartbeat by pressing it to his back and holding Morgana to his chest. The look on his face was one of deep introspection.

“My, what a lovely heartbeat you have” Morgana evidently had, had enough and tried to escape over Yusuke’s shoulder only to get his foot caught on the stethoscope, knock Yusuke on his back and tears the thing out of his ears in the process.

Akira was crying.

He was sitting on the floor, holding his sides and was crying, that was how hard he was laughing, soon both Yusuke and Morgana had joined him in his mirth.

When he finally regained control of his breathing Akira pushed himself up off the floor and went over to flop on the bed next to Yusuke. The ironing could wait.

“Say, this bed is also bigger than it was before, isn’t it?” Yusuke asked, apropos nothing, but that was Yusuke for you.

“Yeah, Sojiro got it for me I guess” Akira hadn’t actually asked about the bed yet, it was a very Sojiro thing to do, considerate without being asked or expecting thanks. Morgana hopped back onto the bed, lying down on his pillow.

“It’s great! I get a whole side to myself!” Morgana crowed but Akira was sure that he’d end up sleeping on top of Akira regardless of the amount of room.

They lay in silence, enjoying the peace and the comfort of the bed, when Yusuke’s stomach makes a loud noise, Akira chuckled and starts to get up.

“Why don’t we go down and eat something, it’s the least I can do after all your help.” Yusuke agreed readily and followed him down.

“Might we have another cup of coffee to go with our meal?” Akira gestured him to sit at the bar.

“Of course” and Akira went behind the bar to start making them some coffee, looking over to where Sojiro was chopping vegetables in the kitchen. “Sojiro would you like a cup as well? Also is there any curry?”

“No thanks and this batch will be done soon, sit tight and I’ll bring it out to you.” Sojiro called from the kitchen, not pausing in his chopping.

So he made their coffee, sat with Yusuke, ate the curry when it was ready and walked him to the station when they were done.

Sojiro was washing the dishes when he got back to the cafe; Akira smiled at the man’s back.

“Let me do that, you sit down.” Met with little resistance Akira started washing the dished while Sojiro lit a cigarette.

“How’s the unpacking coming?”

“It’s basically done, Yusuke was a lot of help.” Thinking about his room reminded him of the bed. “ by the way Sojiro, why did you get me a new bed? Not that I’m not grateful, but I was wondering.” Akira’s back was to him so he couldn’t see an expression, if there even was one. Sojiro cleared his throat, obviously uncomfortable.

“Part of it was that you deserved something nice after all your hard work at school, the other part was that you’re getting older, you’re an adult and I recognize that.” Akira had to look at Sojiro’s face to confirm if he’d inferred correctly, and by the look on Sojiro’s face he had. Sojiro had bought him a bigger bed so that it would be easier for Akira to share if he’d decided to bring someone home for the night. Perfect. 

“Oh, thanks.” It was all Akira could think to say.

“You’re welcome.” Sojiro quickly snubbed out his cigarette, and got up. “I think I’ll close up for the night, don’t forget to lock up.” With that Sojiro fled, Akira was grateful. He finished the dishes, locked the door and went upstairs.

Ignoring Morgana he crawled into the bed, curled into a ball and did not think of the only person with whom he ever wanted to share a bed.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Couple things.  
> 1) Akira is way more angsty than I meant but shit happens.  
> 2) Kyoto University is where I decided Akira went for school, reasons to follow  
> 3) I'm super undecided about the Mishima/Futaba thing, they're both geeks and kind of adorable and just love to fuck with Mashima in the game, so let me know if it's something people are actually interested in seeing.  
> 4) I realize the stethoscope thing is kinda random but it was stuck in my head and it seemed like the weird sort of thing Yusuke would do.  
> 5) Akira's first day of work will definitely be in the next chapter!


	4. Cuts and Scars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira's first week as a doctor is both great and not so great. Alcohol fixes everything right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First and foremost, sorry it took so long to update, I feel like I did mention I may not be super consistent.
> 
> Secondly, I am officially warning you that there are brief graphic descriptions of injury, I don't think it's that graphic but you have been warned, I mean he is a clinic doctor.
> 
> Thirdly, all mistakes and typos are my own, this is an unbeta'd work, but if anyone would like to volunteer to beta read it that'd be cool.
> 
> Hope you like it :)

Akira needed a drink.

He thought medical school was hard, but it was nothing in compare to the reality of dealing with living, breathing patients. It had been less than a week since he started working with Dr Takemi and it was both better and so much worse than he expected. She had been just has helpful and accommodating as he’d hoped she would be, respectful in front of patients but as soon as the patients left, she would tease him endlessly and make him try all sorts of strange and weird tasting concoctions she’d come up with.

Tae had honestly been great, welcomed him warmly on his first day, walking him through all the administration procedures, allowing him to sit in on all her consultations that agreed and what had pleased Akira the most was that she had no problem letting Morgana hang around the clinic so long as he stayed out of the exam room while patients were occupying it. Akira had spent the last almost 10 years with Morgana underfoot wherever he was and being able to have him come and go as he pleased had definitely settled Akira’s nerves about starting his new job.

Unfortunately Morgana hasn’t been the only one underfoot as of late, without fail everyday this week one of his friends had stopped by to check on him. Not that he realized that’s what it was at the start of the week, it had actually been kind of nice when on Monday Haru had stopped by during his lunch break with enough fancy sushi for him and Morgana. It had been nice getting some one on one time with Haru; he hadn’t really gotten the chance to catch up with her the other night. As it had turned out the reason he was in the neighbourhood was because she was meeting with Sojiro once a week to discuss her business model for the cafe she wanted to open, the cafe she’d been talking about opening since high school. He’d forgotten that she had wanted to open a cafe, to grow all her own produce and he was happy that she was still following her dream. So Monday had been fine, he hugged Haru and promised that they would get together for coffee when he had a little more time. Tuesday had also been fine, Makoto too stopped by on his lunch with food to share and the excuse that she had been meeting with Futaba about a case and thought she would check on him while she was in the area. It was Wednesday when Ann stopped by with cake and no excuse that Akira noticed the pattern.

“You know I do actually bring a lunch to work with me.” Not that Akira would consider cake lunch but the point had to be made. He and Ann were sitting in the exam room eating cake because Tae had been working in the office and told them she’d kick them out if a patient actually showed up.

“I know that, but I had the afternoon off and I thought I’d share this yummy cake with you and Mona.” Mona whose face was covered in frosting was happily eating cake on the desk while sat in the chair facing Ann who was sitting on the exam bed also happily eating cake.

“Be that as it may, you guys can’t keep showing up here, I find it hard to believe that you guys did this to anyone else during their first week of work. I do actually have to do things during my lunch break.” Akira crossed his arms, he could actually believe it if Ann just showed up to the precinct with cake on Makoto’s first week or Haru’s office but his point still stood, he was busy enough without the surprise drop ins that unfortunately put him behind on his paperwork everyday this week. Ann began to look a bit guilty, Akira sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

“We know you’re busy, but we just worry about you, we just don’t want you to isolate yourself like you did while you were in school.” Ann looked sincere, and Akira supposed it was fair, he would just put up with the attention until they were satisfied it was the least he could do.

“So who should I expect tomorrow, Yusuke or Futaba?” He just shook his head when Ann shrugged.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Akira just rolled his eyes and went back to his cake.

On Thursday he was actually expecting someone to show up, but when no one arrived around the time everyone else had he figured Ann had told them to back off and he went back to his paperwork. It wasn’t until almost an hour later when he was on his way out to pick up some coffee for himself and Tae that he literally ran into Yusuke. He was about to tell Yusuke he didn’t have to time to hang out when he noticed how pale Yusuke was.

“Yusuke what’s wrong, did something happen?” Akira was holding him by the shoulders, Yusuke didn’t look panicked, just lightheaded, and then he noticed how Yusuke was cradling his hand. It was messily wrapped with toilet paper and tape and Akira could see red bleeding through the lumpy white mass.

“I may have cut myself.” It was all Yusuke said as Akira quickly led him into the clinic.

“Back already?” It Tae, she was inputting something on to her computer and hadn’t looked up.

“Nope, this guy just needs some stitches.” Akira tried to sound as calm as possible, he’d done stitches several times this week alone, along with all his training in med school, but it was different when it was one of your friends. Tae did look up from her computer but failed to react in any visible way.

“Sure, go for it.” With that, Tae turned back to her work. It was her dismissive reaction that let Akira know that she had complete faith in his ability to handle the situation and in turn it calmed him.

Akira led Yusuke through the waiting area and into the exam room, gesturing him to sit on the exam bed. 

“Why don’t you tell me what happened Yusuke?” He looked over his shoulder to his friend as he went to the sink to wash and sanitize his hands before putting a pair on gloves.

“It was my turn to visit you today, and I thought I’d prepare a meal instead of buy one, I knew that if anyone would appreciate a beautifully handmade meal it would be you.” Akira was peeling backing the tape and paper, it revealed a large cut across Yusuke’s palm, it had begun to dry and the toilet paper was sticking to the dried blood.

“Yusuke, I need you to focus, how did you get the cut? What were you cutting?” Akira hoped he’d been cutting something like a lemon, because while cutting yourself on a knife covered in citric acid would probably hurt, it was preferable to the potential infection of cutting yourself on a knife that had been used for cutting raw chicken.

“Oh I was trying to cut open a coconut and the knife slipped, listen Akira, I’m sorry I couldn’t bring you lunch today, but after I cut myself there was such a mess of blood in the kitchen that I had to clean up and when I noticed the time, I knew you lunch would be almost over so I though, perhaps I’ll just visit instead, except when I got here I felt terribly dizzy.” Akira wanted to bang his head against a wall, of course Yusuke was more concerned that Akira would be lonely than the fact that he was suffering from _blood loss_ due to the cut he inflicted upon himself. 

“Yusuke, don’t worry about all that right now, you cut yourself pretty deeply and I want to give you some stitches, is that alright?” Despite how much Akira wants to yell at Yusuke for not taking better care of himself, he was a doctor and he still needed consent. 

Yusuke frowned as if he was confused, “If you think that it’s really necessary, I don’t mind.” Akira sighed, Yusuke was probably never going to change, he honestly surprised he hadn’t died from malnutrition yet, Yusuke as far as Akira knew had no self-preservation instincts at all.

“Thank you.” Once Akira had consent he gathered everything that needed and walked Yusuke through the process. “Once I remove all the toilet paper from the cut, I’m going to clean it with antiseptic.” Akira went through the motions as he spoke. “ Now that it’s clean I’m going to inject you hand with a local anesthesia, to numb the pain while I close the cut, first I’m going to glue the cut together first, it’ll help to decrease the risk of infection, especially because it’s a hand injury.” Yusuke seemed to be fascinated with the process and Akira took a deep breath before picking up the needle and thread. “While the glue does close the cut, I’m still going to stitch together to ensure the cut doesn’t reopen as well as to minimize the potential scarring.” All in all it took about twenty minutes, but by the end out it Yusuke had neat line of 12 stitches covered until a piece of medical grade gauze.

Akira lead Yusuke out of the exam room, “I want you to promise me you’re going to try avoiding getting that wet and if you rip a stitch, tell me right away! If you take good care of it, in two weeks I’ll remove the stitches and you won’t have to worry about it again.” Yusuke nodded meekly and Akira sighed readjusting his glasses. He nearly jumps in surprised when Morgana lands on his shoulder from where ever he was perched. He’d completely forgotten the cat was even at the clinic.

“Is Yusuke going to be okay, he didn’t look too good when he walked in?” Morgana was inspecting Yusuke from his spot on Akira; he nodded looking around to see if Tae was in earshot.

“I never had any doubts, but Akira is indeed a marvellous doctor, he stitched my hand so beautifully it’s a shame his work must be covered by such boring white gauze.” Yusuke was picking at the tape on his hand as if to get another look at the sutured cut, Akira blushed at the compliment but he also slapped his hand away from the gauze.

“Morgana why don’t you take Yusuke to Leblanc’s, I’m sure Sojiro will give him a cup of coffee, make sure he doesn’t pick at the gauze.” Morgana agreed and they left the clinic without the need for further encouragement.

Akira collapsed in one on the chairs in the waiting room, with an arm thrown over his eyes. The situation had been more stressful than Akira had ever thought, he couldn’t help the smile that crossed his lips, one of his friends had been hurt and he’d been able to help him. He jerked up when the clinic door opened again, but it was only Tae and she was carrying two coffee cups.

“I passed your friend on my way back,” she mentioned as she handed him the second cup. “Some of the hardest patients to treat are your friends and family, concern can cloud a doctor’s judgment but from the sounds of it you were able to stay composed and the procedure without issue, looks like you’re on your way to becoming a pretty decent GP” Tae squeezed his shoulder and went back to her office, Akira hid his smile behind his coffee cup.

When Friday rolled around, he was entirely unsurprised when Futaba strolled in five minutes after his lunch break began. Akira just signed, grabbed his bento and gestured his head in the direction of the exam room. Futaba hopped up onto the exam bed and laid back like she was in a psychiatrist’s office, Morgana was already in there lying on a stack of files cleaning his paws, Akira sat in the chair and began eating, he knew Futaba would be the one to start whatever conversation they were going to have.

“So is it true that, that Inari nearly cut his hand off yesterday?” Futaba was obviously deriving great joy from Yusuke’s pain, their relationship had always been more antagonistic than anything and Akira chose not the question it.

“I wouldn’t go that far, but I did give him some stitches.”

“Pfft, What an Inari!”

“You know I never did find out what he was going to do with the coconut.” Akira had wondered briefly what Yusuke had be planning on making with a whole coconut.

“Coconut? Never mind that, we have more important things to talk about!” Futaba had turned to fully face Akira; he in turn put his food down and raised an eyebrow.

“Such as?” He saw Futaba nearly everyday, he didn’t know what was so important she had to come to his work to talk to him about it.

“It’s Friday, you’re finally back in Tokyo, you don’t work tomorrow, shouldn’t you go out tonight?” Futaba, who hated going out, especially to bars and clubs what telling him he should go out.

“Actually I do work tomorrow.”

“Oh” Futaba seemed disappointed; Akira didn’t actually work until later on Saturdays so maybe he could go out if Fubata wanted to.

“Did you want to go out together?” Akira wouldn’t mind getting a drink or two with Futaba.

“What? No! I have plans tonight anyway, I just thought you should go out, Mona and I have been looking into this one bar in Shinjuku.” Futaba was officially acting _strange_ , and Morgana looked as though he was finally paying attention to the conversation.

“You mean the bar Mishima works at?” Futaba looked confused, she’d been the one to tell him Mishima worked at a bar in Shinjuku.

“Yuuki doesn’t —” she was cut off by a yowl, Morgana had begun stretching and was making increasingly loud cat noise. “I mean, yeah that bar.” Futaba finished super convincingly, they were obviously hiding something from him but he was sure he’d find out eventually, they were both terrible liars so it probably wouldn’t be long.

“Speaking of _Yuuki_ ” the use of the first name had reminded him, “what sort of relationship do you two have anyway?” It was interesting for Akira to watch as Futaba’s face went from its natural pale to tomato red.

“What relationship? I don’t have relationships!” Futaba scrambled off the bed and wretched the door open, “my look at the time, I have important hacker things to be doing!” With that, Fubata was out of the building.

“That was super smooth.” Akira couldn’t help but agree with the cat.

Akira went back to his food set on enjoying the rest of his lunch, his lunch was once again interrupted but this time it was by the muffled cries of a child. He went out to see what was the problem, a distraught looking father was carrying a little boy, the boy’s feet were bleeding. The child had been running without shoes on and stepped on broken glass, he'd managed to get multiple pieces of glass imbedded in the soles of both his feet. The remainder of Akira’s afternoon had been filled with the sobs of a 5 year old as glass was removed from both his feet and Akira cleaned and stitched every cut.

 

* * *

 

Akira needed a drink, because being a doctor was totally worth it, but sometimes being a doctor really sucked.

 

He was lying on his bed, freshly showered because being a doctor, especially a GP was seriously gross, at any one point he could be covered in any number of fluids that originated from the human body. He was scrolling through his phone debating on whether or not to text Fubata about the bar she had mentioned he should check out. He was about to give in a text her when he saw an unread message that he'd missed from a familiar number.

_Heard you were back in town, I still owe you a drink._

The message was from Monday night, Akira was pretty sure he’d crashed as soon as he got home from work on Monday, information overload. He decided he had nothing to lose by responding, even if he was a week late.

_That offer still good?_

_Of course, I owe you more than one!_

_The usual place?_

_You know it._

Despite the years away and the changes that have been made in since the last time he was in Shinjuku, the walk to Crossroads Bar was still familiar. The too bright lights, the standard greeting from the still cross-dressing Lala and the already drinking form of Ohya Ichiko warmed his heart. Although he was sure he should be concerned for the state of Ohya’s liver at the very least, but those feelings were for another night, tonight he didn’t give a shit.

“So about that drink.” Akira took the seat next to Ohya and waited for her reaction. She turned to look at him and broke out into a huge grin.

“Well look who finally decided to show up, it’s good to see you kid!” Ohya threw her arm around his shoulders and pulled him in close. “Don’t worry your pretty little head, tonight is on me, Lala-chan get this guy a drink!” Lala came over and looked him up and down.

“Well? What’ll it be?” It sent a funny kind of thrill down his spin that he was finally able to order a drink from this bar after all the time he’d spent here.

“Vodka on the rocks” It was a Vodka kind of night.

“Make it a double!” Ohya ordered, he shrugged it just meant he’d get drunk faster and he had no problem with that.

-

-

-

- 

Five drinks, a couple of shots and some time later, Akira really didn’t know how much later, it was probably fine Akira was drunk and that was all that mattered. Ohya was staring at him, which was probably fine, he was nice to look at, and well she was nice to look at so he must be as well.

“So you’re like a doctor?” Ohya looked like she was thinking really hard, he wasn’t sure what that meant.

“Yup” He popped the p because it was fun, and wanted Ohya to be having fun.

“So why is your friend a host if you’re a doctor?” Akira was sure he didn’t know any hosts; well he was pretty sure he didn’t know any hosts. Wait! Mishima was a host! Fubata had said so, and she was always right.

“You mean Mishima? We aren’t really friends, I don’t think? We don’t really talk.” Akira’s head was getting spiny he needed another drink. “Lala, Another please!”

“Mishima? Was that his name? Blond, kind of vulgar?” Akira took another drink; Mishima wasn’t blond that would be silly. Ryuji was blond; Ryuji had nice hair Akira wished he could run his fingers through Ryuji’s blond hair.

“That’s Ryuji, Ryuji’s not a host, why would he be a host?” Akira was confused, why were they talking about Ryuji, he missed Ryuji; he wasn’t supposed to talk about Ryuji.

“That’s what I want to know! All I know is that I see him going in and out of the host club across the way, I’m not judging, I don’t judge! Just most guys that are hosts don’t have the type of friends that are doctors.” Ohya didn’t actually know Ryuji that well she could be wrong, someone who looks like Ryuji just works there, Ryuji is god knows where running a gym or being a pro athlete or being unfairly hot somewhere that isn’t a host club. Akira knocked back the rest of his drink.

“That’s not him, there’s no way it’s him.” Akira ordered another drink.

-

-

-

It was nearly two in the morning when Akira and Ohya stumbled out of Crossroads, they were both completely drunk and Akira was starting to regret his choice in drinking partners, as he stumbled his way to the station a flash of blond in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He turned to look at the blond taking Ohya with him, there was a blond guy, he was in a suit typical for hosts and he had his arms around two women their backs were facing them so Akira didn’t know what made him do it, he called out.

“Ryuji?” The blond man stopped walking and Akira held his breath, the man turned to look back at him. It was Ryuji but the look of shock and horror on Ryuji’s face made his stomach drop.

 

Akira couldn’t stop himself.

He puked.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm probably going to have more confidants show up throughout this story, so leave me a note if there's one you'd particularly like to see.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it!


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